Well, that was fun!
It's been an interesting experience, and helped me think about what I play and why. It may even affect what I play in the future, particularly relevant with D&D 24 looming.
I'm not really surprised that I sound like an old school Grognard, but it's refreshing to see that I've mentioned more than just D&D and Call of Cthulhu. I like to think that I've dabbled in a few lesser known titles, though I've been reading a few other entries, and there are some truly obscure games out there.
I've definitely come to some sort of understanding of why I play games, and what sort of games are likely to appeal to me.
Despite no longer being in the world of work, time seems as precious as ever, and inevitably I have to compromise when it comes to RPGs.
In the past I've run several different games on different nights, using different systems (running D&D in both 4E and 5E was a challenge). I can't really do that anymore. The cognitive load is greater than I want to give these days.
I've realised that I don't enjoy a game if I feel I'm lost in the rules. I know that I might make poor choices within the game, but I want them to be my poor choices, not just because I don't understand the details of the game rules.
I appreciate that there's bound to be a period when I'm learning a new game, but, much as with my wargaming, I'm wary if something new comes along. Do I already have a game that does the same sort of thing? If so, is it worth learning something else new?
I've also realised that I like playing in games where the players act as a group to achieve a goal. I'm all for personal goals and motivations, but I've a personal dislike of games that set the players against each other. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with this style of game, just that they aren't for me.
And if I'm playing a fantasy game, I want it to feel heroic.
Honourable Unmentioned
I realised that I've played quite a few different games over the forty plus years that I've been roleplaying, and many of them haven't been mentioned.
Here's a list of the ones that I can remember.
So, in no particular order;
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Judge Dredd Roleplaying Game
Runequest
Fiasco
Shadow Chasers (and various other Polyhedron magazine games)
GURPS
Tunnels and Trolls
The Arduin Grimoire (or is this just a D&D supplement?)
Dragon Warriors
Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying
Basic Roleplay System (the OSR clone)
Traveller
True d20 (the Pulp version, not the Mecha version. I regularly get asked to run this again)
Microlite d20
Warrior Cats
SAGA roleplaying system
Star Wars (the WotC d20 version)
STOCSlite
Maelstrom
Lone Wolf (RPG based on the game books)
TORG (both versions)
Empire of the Petal Throne
Beneath the Sands (devised by a fellow player/GM at the FLGS)
MERPS
Maybe some of them will get a mention next year.
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